In a quiet corner of this museum are multiple objects that belonged to Maria Anna Schicklgruber, Hitlerís paternal grandmother. Among them are a decoratively painted armoire, a butter churn, andirons, a wool stand, a rake, and an ox yoke. (A spinning wheel disappeared during the Second World War.) The objects came from a house at 13 Strones, which belonged to the businessman Johann Weissinger, who found the objects and stated that they were "property of the father of our Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler." The mayor of the town of Heinreichs (lower Austria, 38 km NW of Horn) vouched for their authenticity.
Hitler himself had no interest in his relatives in this area, called the Waldviertel. He never went to see his grandmotherís artifacts, though a rumor circulated that he would. But the Nazis published an expensively produced book about them, with Hitlerís express permission. After the war, Grandmother Schicklgruberís property was lost and forgotten, until it surfaced in Munich and was returned to the museum in Horn.
The objects are of interest today because they indicate Maria Anna Schicklgruberís prosperity. A decoratively painted armoire was a rarity among Waldviertel peasants in the early 19th century. Only a well-to-do, upper crust farmer could afford such luxury. In no case would one be found in the home of the average peasant. Obviously Maria Anna Schicklgruber occupied a prominent position in her little world.